Keitra Beach was on the brink of a journey she had long planned when she got the call.
The day before she and her children were set to leave for Uganda to continue mission work with her nonprofit, Agape International, she learned she had breast cancer. Most people would have paused, unsure how to move forward. Not Keitra.
“I prayed with my kids and I said, ‘OK, there’s fear that obviously can creep in and stop you from doing everything if you allow it. But there’s also foolishness, and neglecting your treatment is foolishness.’ I needed to find a balance between fear and foolishness,” she says.
The decision was clear: continue the mission trip, return home and step immediately into care.
“We left anyway. We went on our trip,” she says. “And then when we came home from that trip is when I started my treatment plan at Our Lady of the Lake.”
Navigating Treatment with Care and Resilience
Once she returned, Keitra moved quickly into treatment with her doctor, Greg Bizette, MD, and his team at FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute. She had surgery to insert a port and started chemotherapy soon after.
The road has had challenges, from an allergic reaction to her medications to being rushed to the Eemergency department one night for a dangerously low white blood cell count.
Through it all, she has felt closely supported by her family and her medical team.
“I’m so beyond grateful for their care,” she says.
Her days in the infusion clinic are long, starting with bloodwork, then a check-in with her doctor, followed by chemotherapy.
“Even on a good day, it’s tiring and emotionally draining. Symptoms can come up quickly, but my team has always been there, communicating and watching every step,” she says.
Finding Inspiration and Giving It Back
Keitra draws inspiration from the people around her while inspiring others in turn.
During a visit to the infusion clinic, LSU Football players stopped by to meet her. One shared that his mother had battled cancer, a story that deeply resonated with Keitra, who had her mother by her side that day during treatment.
“It lit up my day and brought a smile to my face. My mother was with me that day, smiling when the football team came in, giving big hugs. Learning about this young man’s mother touched me so much,” she says.
Each day, Keitra asks herself how can she help others? She focuses on giving to others, even on difficult days, and says that mindset keeps her moving through the toughest moments of treatment.
“No matter what the hardest day looks like, you still have something to give to others,” she says.
Life Doesn’t Pause
At the time of her diagnosis, Keitra was enrolled in nursing school at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, also known as FranU. She had completed classroom coursework and was preparing for clinical rotations.
Cancer treatment has paused her future nursing career but hasn’t canceled it. In fact, this detour has made her see a new option in her future. Her long-term goal is to graduate with her bachelor of science in nursing and return to work in the very place that has cared for her.
“I know as soon as I’m healthy and on the other side of this journey, I will go back and I will finish,” she says. “I am considering possibly going back and working in that chemo lab with those amazing nurses, because I love what they do and I love seeing people’s journey.”
Keitra has more immediate plans, too. She has three chemotherapy treatments left before this round is over, and then she’s returning to Uganda with her nonprofit to oversee building a well and a new school facility. After that, she will undergo surgery and complete radiation to hopefully close the book on her cancer journey.
“I still have a ways to go, but I’m not letting it slow me down,” she says. “You have to keep yourself moving. Helping other people keeps your mind and heart in a really positive place.
“I can’t wait to get healthy and well so I can get back to what I love doing.”
Recognized as a Geaux Hero
Keitra’s courage and perseverance will be honored during the FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake Geaux Hero presentation at the LSU Women’s Basketball game against Arkansas on January 29. It will also be LSU’s annual Play4Kay game, which recognizes women affected by cancer and raises funds for treatment and research.
For Keitra, the recognition is deeply meaningful, not as a personal spotlight, but as a representation of the countless women who have walked this path before her.
“It’s a big deal to me. I don’t consider myself the hero in the story, but I realize there are so many cancer warriors who have gone before me. To represent not just me, but all the women who have fought through this journey, is an honor,” Keitra says.
As she continues treatment, prepares for surgery and radiation, and looks toward returning to both Uganda and nursing school, Keitra remains grounded in gratitude.
“I think every woman that has gone through this journey is an absolute warrior and hero,” she says. “The doctors and the teams, from researchers to the nurses, all of them, I think they are the true heroes. I’m just so grateful for all of them.”
